Item Description: Louis Wain, UK. Signed. ORIGINAL LOUIS WAIN PAINTING. Louis Wain 1860-1939, 'When a Cat's single he lives at ease', original watercolour and pencil, signed lower right, with titled slip, in a giltwood frame, glazed, verso, on the back board, 50 x 38cm approx, old Christies stencil number to rear, private collection ownership London. c. 1880's / 1890's in original frame. Frame has some extremitity wear and damage as shown, but this tends to add to the appeal of this original Louis Wain 1880'spainting. A most beautiful large original cat painting by LOUIS WAIN. PLEASE REQUEST FURTHER IMAGES TO VIEW THIS INCREDIBLE ORIGINAL PIECE OF ART. Louis Wain ORIGINAL painting as shown. Authenticated by London auction house Christies and laterly by Chiswick and accompanied by a full insurance certificate to the value of £15,000. 100% authenticity guaranteed and authentic original Louis Wain painting. Original Paintings and Illustrations. Privately Printed. Bookseller Inventory # 005449

Item Description: c., 1910. Original oil painting on board. Measuring 10.25 x 7.5 inches and signed to the bottom right. A wonderful painting of two kittens standing on a rug watching a mousetrap. Oil paintings by Wain are rare, this being a particularly nice example. This image was reproduced in Patricia Allderidge’s excellent book ‘The Cats Of Louis Wain’, published by Bibliotheque De L'Image, Paris in 2000. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers. Bookseller Inventory # 2694

Item Description: [n.p.]: , 1911., 1911. Original Louis Wain Watercolor DrawingWAIN, Louis (1860-1939). "Mixed Sweets." [1911]. Original watercolor drawing of a kitten sitting in a bag of sweets. Signed at lower left. Image size: 9 7/8 x 7 inches; 250 x 178 mm. Matted, framed, and glazed. Framed size: 22 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches; 570 x 470 mm.A wonderful early example of a Louis Wain original watercolor drawing, which first appeared in Father Tuck's Annual [1911] opposite page 248.At the end of the last century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled [a]lthough he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914). Bookseller Inventory # 00270

Item Description: : , 1900., 1900. Wain Cats Fly KiteWAIN, Louis. "Flying A Kite." An original watercolor and gouache drawing, c. 1900-1905.Signed at lower right. Matted, glazed and framed. Approximate image measurement: 14 1/2 x 19 1/2 in; 370 x 505 mm. Framed: 25 1/2 x 29 3/4 in; 660 x 755 mm. A colorful, charming and amusing depiction of a "father" cat flying a kite with the help of his three kittens.At the end of the nineteenth century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled [a]lthough he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914).A wonderful early example of a Louis Wain original watercolor drawing. I. Bookseller Inventory # 02319

Item Description: c, 1912. Gouache and watercolour on paper. The image measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is signed by Wain to the bottom corner. A black cat in sporting attire, including a red tartan cap and breeches, sits on a stool at the riverside, holding a fishing rod. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers. Bookseller Inventory # 2740

Item Description: WAIN,LOUIS. DAYS IN CATLAND. FATHER TUCK'S PANORAMA. London: Raphael Tuck no date, ca 1900. Large 4to 12 x 10 1/2" opening to 4 times that size. Small repair on blank part of rear cover else near fine and COMPLETE WITH ALL 14 PAPER FIGURES! (2 figures strengthened on versos). Featuring 4 panels, each showing the interior of a different room in the cats' house with Wains humanized cats and furniture illustrated with chromolithographs. Throughout the panels, there are 14 numbered slots into which the reader inserts the corresponding figure to complete the scene. There are 14 fabulous color cat cut-outs by Wain showing this family of cats playing, eating, cooking, fighting etc., plus there is an amazing chromolithographed cover. A truly wonderful item. (See Haining: Moveable Books p. 86-87 for other in series). Not in Necker. Bookseller Inventory # 12102

Item Description: (London, 1900. Wain, Louis (illustrator). A framed, matted original painting by Louis Wain, signed by the artist in the lower left corner. This whimsical watercolor illustration depicts three wide-eyed cats standing upright, backed against a wall, with their mouths open in surprise. The cats are distancing themselves from a large, black stag beetle crawling across the floor. A gallery label on the reverse is the source for the title of the painting. Louis Wain is best known for his anthropomorphic, often humorous illustrations of cats, which he first created around 1880 in order to amuse his wife while she was ill with cancer. Silver frame is slightly rubbed, else a very fine example of Wain's characteristic art. (Image measures 5 3/4 by 9 1/4 [15x23cm]; frame measures 14 by 17 inches [36x43cm]). Bookseller Inventory # 24017

Item Description: London: Blackie and Son Limited, 1914., 1914. A Day in the Life of Daddy CatWAIN, Louis. Daddy Cat Illustrated by Louis Wain. London: Blackie and Son Limited, [n.d., ca. 1914].First edition. Quarto (9 5/8 x 6 3/4 inches; 245 x 172 mm.). 36 pp. Color pictorial title-page and thirty-four full-page color illustrations. Original quarter red cloth over tan cloth boards, front cover with full-color illustration (taken from the color illustration on page 13) pasted-on, pictorial gray end-papers. A spectacular copy. Very scarce, especially in this condition.A charming little book which pictorially follows the exciting day of Daddy Cat and his two kittens. At the end of the last century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled [a]lthough he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914 ) .Dale, 50. Bookseller Inventory # 03255

Item Description: London: Blackie and Son Limited, 1917., 1917. Flying Fur, Caterwauling. and Cats on the BandstandWAIN, Louis. Cats at Play. London: Blackie and Son Limited, n.d. [1917]. First edition. Folio (13 1/8 x 10 1/8 in; 334 x 258 mm). Twelve pages with one to two captioned scenes in color, inner covers illustrated in black and white. Publisher's full color staple-bound pictorial wrappers. Oxidation at staples, light wear at edges and spine head, third gathering loose at two staples (of three). An excellent copy of a book that would normally have been destroyed by child.A particularly difficult Wain title to find in any condition; here, in this condition, a miracle.We have never seen another copy of this book in over 45 years At the end of the last century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled although he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914).Dale 34.Footnote: Not to be confused with another book of the same title [WAIN, Louis. RACKHAM, Arthur. SMITH, H. Officer. GLADWIN, May, et al. Cats At Play. London: John F. Shaw, n.d. [c. 1900-1904]. This edition is unrecorded and scarce, with no copies in institutional holdings worldwide, and not noted in the Wain or Rackham bibliographies. Small quarto (9 5/8 x 7 1/8 in; 245 x 180 mm). 160 pp., with advertising as endpapers. Illustrated throughout in black and white and color, with fifteen drawings by Louis Wain, and an unrecorded text drawing by Arthur Rackham (so initialed) on page 40. (see DB 02471). Bookseller Inventory # 02771

Item Description: Pall Mall Gazette, London, 1892. Original Pictorial Cloth. Book Condition: Near Fine. Wain, Louis (illustrator). First Edition. 4to - 7-3/4" x 10-1/4". (Wain, Louis) illus. PETER; A CAT O' ONE TAIL. HIS LIFE AND ADVENTURES. Illustrated by Louis Wain (Peter's Proprietor). Written by Charles Morley (A Pal of Peter's). London: Pall Mall Gazette, 1892. First edition. 4to - 7-3/4" x 10-1/4". TEG. Original pink cloth binding, pictorially blocked in black and lettered in red. Binding is unevenly faded but extremely clean with almost no signs of handling or wear. Eighty-eight pages, illustrated throughout by Louis Wain in his early, pre-anthropomophic style. Peter, a large black and white cat, was Louis and wife Emily Wain's family pet. Louis Wain wrote of Peter, "To him properly belongs the foundation of my career, the developments of my initial efforts, and the establishing of my work." Peter can be recognized in many of Wain's early published works. Internally, the book is in fine condition with minor foxing to the endpapers being the only condition issue of note. The condition of this book is NEAR FINE. Extremely scarce in the deluxe cloth binding. Bookseller Inventory # 000038

Item Description: London: Privately Printed for Mr. & Mrs. F.T. Davies, 1891., 1891. "A Night in Town" - Probably Louis Wain's Very First Published 'Cat Caricature'[WAIN, Louis, artist]. [DOBSON, Austin, contributor]. A Book of Drawings. By A. Bryan, L. Davis, A.T. Elwes, Harry Furniss, J. Jellicoe, Louise Jopling, J.B. Partridge, Jo. Pennell, R.H. Moor, H. Railton, Hugh Thomson, L. Wain, C. Wilkinson & W. Wilson: with a prefatory poem by Austin Dobson. London: Privately Printed for Mr. & Mrs. F.T. Davies, [1891]. One of a hundred large paper copies on hand-made paper, signed by F.T.W. Davies, the plates individually signed by the illustrators. 43, [1 imprint] pp. Folio (12 7/8 x 10 3/8 inches; 326 x 263 mm.). Original thin white vellum over parchment wrappers. Front cover decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt. A near fine copy.The two Louis Wain drawings, each of which is signed by Wain in pencil are: "A Night in Town" and [A Single Cat].From studying the 209 entries in Rodney Dale's A List of Books Illustrated by Louis Wain, it would appear that A Book of Drawings (Dale 20, 1891) was only preceded by Madame Tabby's Establishment (Dale 141, 1886) and Dreams by French Firesides (Dale 56, 1890). We believe that the drawing "A Night in Town" is most probably the very first published Louis Wain 'multi-cat caricature'.Extremely rare - OCLC lists just two copies in libraries worldwide: Yale University Library, CT., and R. G. Menzies Library, ANU, Canberra."Mr. and Mrs. Davies, who are well known for their unsparing efforts on behalf of the poor of St. Pancras, have issued a book of drawings with the same charitable intentions as have been displayed in their concerts. For this purpose they have secured the services of several well-known artists, who have contributed, each with his own especial style, and the result is a recherché book of pictures not often seen. The title-page is by Herbert Horne, and Mr. Austin Dobson furnishes a prefatory poem; the artists who have sent their charitable mites are W. Wilson, H. Railton, J. Jellicoe, A.T. Elwes, Louise Jopling, Joseph Pennell, H. Furniss, C. Wilkinson, A. Bryan, R.H. Moore, J.B. Partridge, Lucien Davis, Hugh Thomson, Louis Wain, and Selwyn Image, who sends a tail-piece. Anyone wishing to make a Christmas or New Year's Gift will help on the good work Mr. and Mrs. Davies are doing by sending for a book. A special large paper edition, limited to 100 copies, printed on hand-made paper, with India proofs of the drawings, and bound in parchment, will also be issued from Wilsford House, 16 Fitzroy-street, London, W., or may be obtained through Mr. Tregaskis." (The British Bookmaker. Volume V. 1891-92)."Until 1890, Louis Wain had made little or no attempt to portray cats as anything other than fluffy animals which, though they slept between sheets, or wrote letters with quill pens, were otherwise recognisably feline. The 'Louis Wain cat' had not yet been born. But in 1890, he began to explore the possibility of the comic cat; cats drawn in human situations - or humans drawn as cats, which amount to the same thing. He insisted that he did not caricature cats, but drew them as he saw them, though his approach makes it clear that he generally saw them as humans. Naturally, then, he studied humans when drawing cats. ' If I want a mild, irresponsible caricature, a grinning cat, then I have to let loose my nature impressions and let myself go on my own account, and it is astonishing what variety one can get in this way, and how one's moods vary from day to day. I have done as many as one hundred and fifty laughing cats at a time, no two being alike. ' There is another way of sketching cats, and this way I often resort to. I take a sketch-book to a restaurant or other public place, and draw the people in their different positions as cats, getting as near to their human characteristics as possible. This gives me double nature, and these studies I think my best humorous work.' The foundations of this approach were laid in 1890. That Christmas, there appeared in Holly Leaves and. I. Bookseller Inventory # 02895

Item Description: London Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd. No. 1915, 7161. FIRST EDITION (1915), Father Tuck's "Holiday" serIes, oblong 4to, approximately 240 x 335 mm, 9¼ x 13 inches, 18 pages including insides of covers, on 6 of these pages is a fantastic full page full coloured illustration of 3 very large kittens, all quite different, the other 12 pages in black and white with one colour such as green or red, all show cats or kittens, some dressed. At the top of each page is a title for the image and below 4 lines of descriptive verse by Grace C. Floyd. Bound in the original publisher's cloth backed thick shiny card covers, 3 large kittens on each cover, different on upper and lower, black and white and marching forwards on hind legs with large red bows on upper cover, lower cover repeats 1 of the 6 coloured plates, the 3 red Meistersingers in large striped bows. Respined neatly in grey cloth, corners slightly worn, tiny chip to surface paper on lower cover at upper edge and at fore-edge, small pale damp stain to lower margin of lower cover, another very small next to spine on lower cover, pages just very slightly darkened at edges, otherwise contents very clean. A very good copy of a scarce delightul Wain kitten book, not in Dale or Necker. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE. FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST. Bookseller Inventory # 18746

Item Description: c., 1910. Ink and watercolour, on paper mounted on card. Measuring 8.5 x 6 inches. Signed bottom right. A wonderful head and shoulders image of a winking, bow tie wearing cat with cigar in mouth and golf clubs over his shoulder. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers. Bookseller Inventory # 7434

Item Description: Dodge Publishing Company, New York, 1925. Hardcover. Book Condition: Near Fine. Wain, Louis (illustrator). 4to - 7-1/16" x 9-7/8". Wain, Louis. DADDY CAT. New York: Dodge Publishing Company, [1925]. 4to - 7-1/16" x 9-7/8". Olive cloth with a large full color printed paste-label on the front cover with just a hint of shelf wear and the shadow of a previous price sticker (3/4" x 1") for what is a bright clean copy of the book. Pictorial endpapers. [36] pp. Illustrated with thirty-two wonderful full color drawings of cats as only Louis Wain could do. The condition of the book is NEAR FINE. Bookseller Inventory # 000396

Item Description: London - Paris - New York: Raphael Tuck & Sons. Ltd., 1903., 1903. Scarcely Found Complete and CleanWAIN, Louis. Father Tuck's Post Card Painting Book. London - Paris - New York: Raphael Tuck & Sons. Ltd., n.d. [1903]. First edition, Artistic Series No. 2530. Quarto (10 1/2 x 8 in; 266 x 202 mm). Sixteen leaves (including inside covers) comprised of eight leaves with four full color, gum arabic-heightened illustrations each and eight uncolored perforated leaves with matching illustrations to rectos as post cards with printed mailing info to versos. Designed at the Tuck Studios in London and printed at the Fine Art Works in Germany.Pictorial glossy wrappers in full color. Complete with all post cards present and uncolored; thus scarce. Unusually clean, and with just a tiny chip to lower right corner of front wrapper and a crossed out ink inscription dated 1904 on inside front wrapper. An excellent copy.Classic Wain cats (and dogs!) at play and suitable for coloring and mailing.At the end of the last century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled [a]lthough he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914).Publisher Raphael Tuck (1821-1900), from Germany, came to London in 1870 and shortly established himself as a fine art publisher. ".he saw the opportunity to move into the children's book market with volumes of high pictorial quality and outstanding production.Tuck's books were colourful and imaginative, catered for young and old alike, and covered topics ranging from ancient myths to contemporary events.On his retirement in 1882 he handed the business over to his three sons" (Haining, Moveable Books, pp. 36-37), who continued the firm's tradition of children's books of the highest quality.Dale 61. Bookseller Inventory # 02505

Item Description: Blackie and Son Limited, London, 1912. Cloth Backed Boards. Book Condition: Near Fine. Wain, Louis (illustrator). First Edition. 4to - 7-1/16" x 9-15/16". (Wain, Louis) illustrator. THE CAT SCOUTS with verses and tales by Jessie Pope. London: Blackie and Son Limited, [1912]. First edition. 4to - 7-1/16" x 9-15/16". Light green cloth backed buff colored course cloth boards with a full color pictorial paste label of a very clean copy of the book. Very minor corner wear and the minutest signs of handling for what is really about as nice a copy of this title that one ever finds. [32]pp. Illustrated endpapers and wonderful, full color illustrations by Louis Wain throughout. We have both full page and in text illustrations of amazing Louis Wain drawings of these cats as they train for and become the cat version of Boy Scouts. The book is bright and clean throughout with a neatly written gift inscription dated Feb. 16, 1919 on the front endpaper. Louis Wain was a unique talent and this is a fine example of him at his very best. Fun and highly enjoyable. The condition of this book is NEAR FINE. Rare. Bookseller Inventory # 000092

Item Description: London: George Routledge & Sons, Limited, 1911., 1911. Rare Cats Meow the Three "R"sWAIN, Louis. WOODHOUSE, S. C. Cats at School. Illustrated in 21 Coloured Plates by Louis Wain. With Verses by S. C. Woodhouse, M.A. (Oxon). London: George Routledge & Sons, Limited, n.d. [1911]. First edition. Tall octavo. [2], 4-23, [1, blank] pp. With twenty full-page color plates, including frontispiece. Quarter green cloth over color pictorial, heavy-card stock boards. Some soiling to boards, upper corners creased. Otherwise, an excellent copy. No copies have come to auction within the last thirty-six years. OCLC/KVK record only three copies in library holdings worldwide.At the end of the nineteenth century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled [a]lthough he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914).Wood 36. Dale, p. 76. Bookseller Inventory # 01797

Item Description: London: John F. Shaw and Co.,, 1903., 1903. Unrecorded EditionWith an Unrecorded Drawing by Arthur RackhamWAIN, Louis, illustrator. RACKHAM, Arthur, illustrator. SMITH, H. Officer. GLADWIN, May, et al. Cats At Play. London: John F. Shaw, n.d. [c. 1900-1904]. First edition, unrecorded and scarce, with no copies in institutional holdings worldwide, and not noted in the Wain or Rackham bibliographies. Small quarto (9 5/8 x 7 1/8 in; 245 x 180 mm). 160 pp., with advertising as endpapers. Illustrated throughout in black and white and color, with fifteen drawings by Louis Wain, and an unrecorded text drawing by Arthur Rackham (so initialed) on page 40.Publisher's quarter decorated cloth over full-color glazed pictorial boards, corners a little worn. A few illustrations hand-colored by a child. Closed tear to bottom edge of page. 17. Otherwise a very good copy. Early ink presentation dated "Christmas 1905" on front paste-down.This title was later issued by Blackie & Son, 1917, and Alexandria Publications, c. 1920, in what appear to be abridged editions; the Blackie & Son edition collates to only twelve pages.Anytime an unrecorded book illustration by Arthur Rackham comes to light, it's news. And the news could not be better. Buried within this book, unheralded, on page forty, is a black and white text illustration of four chickens in various states of distress as they observe, in high dudgeon and with no little annoyance, a cat within their food bucket chowing down the chicken feed - the nerve! And at the lower left of the bucket, as small as can be, are Rackham's initials as typically drawn. Latimore and Haskell, and Riall make no mention of this illustration in their Rackham bibliographies, and the Arthur Rackham Society was ignorant of it when we inquired.At the time of this book's approximate publication, Rackham had already had work published, mostly under his name with credit on the title page, providing single or multiple illustrations for, amongst others, To the Other Side (1893); Isis Very Much Unveiled (1894); The Dolly Dialogues (1894); The Zankiwank (1896); The Money Spinner (1896); Two Old Ladies (1897); Captain Castle (1897); Through a Glass Lightly (1897); Charles O'Malley (1897); The Castle Inn (1898); Evelina (1898); The Ingoldsby Legends (1898); Gulliver's Travels (1900); Faithful Friends (1901); More Tales From the Stumps (1902); The Grey House on the Hill (1903); The Greek Heroes (1903); Red Pottage (1904); and The Peradventures of Private Pagett (1904). That he would accept a commission to provide a single text line drawing to this book with no more credit than his microscopic initials should not come as a surprise. Rackham was hustling for work wherever he could find it; good reviews and regular exposure were not enough to keep him fully employed with money in his pocket. And none of the other illustrators here received credit beyond their initials or full signatures to their contributions. And so we have a previously unknown Rackham during his transitional period, when his fairies and goblins were emerging but had not yet fully vanquished the simple, pay-the-bills work of his early years.Cf. Dale 34 and 35, in Dale, Louis Wain. The Man Who Drew Cats, p. 137. Bookseller Inventory # 02471

Item Description: London: George Routledge & Sons. Ltd, 1910., 1910. Strange-Looking CatsMeet Strange-Looking MonstersWAIN, Louis. WOODHOUSE, S.C. (text). Two Cats At Large. A Book of Surprises. With Verses by S.C. Woodhouse. London: George Routledge & Sons Ltd, n.d. [1910]. First edition. Quarto (10 1/8 x 8 1/4 in; 258 x 212 mm). Twenty-four verso-only leaves with twenty large full color illustrations by Louis Wain. Publisher's quarter red cloth over full color pictorial boards. Small closed tears to bottom edge of leaves 19 and 22, small tears to half title at staples, boards a little soiled, and scuffed at edges. Otherwise a very good copy of this extremely scarce Wain title.One of the more colorful Wain titles, very scarce, with OCLC recording only three copies in institutional holdings worldwide."The Hogarth of cat life" (Frank Burnand, Punch)."In 1910, Routledge published Two Cats at Large, a 'book of surprises, by Louis Wain, with verses by S.C. Woodhouse.' Two kittens, Albert and Tom, meet various strange-looking monsters on their travels, including the Gollifrog, the Grabberchox and the Salleyinouralleygator. There are some very strange-looking cats in this book as well" (Dale, p. 76).Dale 204. Bookseller Inventory # 02824

Item Description: London: Blackie & Son Limited, 1908., 1908. With Fifty-Seven Color IllustrationsWAIN, Louis. Cat's Cradle. A Picture-Book for Little Folk. Cats by Louis Wain. Rhymes by May Byron. London: Blackie and Son Limited, [1908]. First edition. Quarto (9 13/16 x 6 7/8 inches; 249 x 175 mm.). [48] pp. Eight full-page color (including one double-page) illustrations and forty-nine smaller color illustrations. Original color pictorial stiff wrappers with original red silk tie, gray end-papers. Very minor rubbing to one corner, otherwise a near fine copy of this very fragile and precious little book.A fine collection of favorites including: Jack Horner, Miss Muffet, Jack-in-the-Box, Santa Claws and Hey Diddle Diddle. The illustrations also include cats playing cricket, watching a magic lantern and playing 'Squib'.At the end of the nineteenth century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled although he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914).Dale, 37. Bookseller Inventory # 03034

Item Description: [n.p.]: , c.1910., 1910. Felonies Against Felines Afoot?WAIN, Louis. "The Good Puss." [N.d., ca. 1910]. Chromolithograph. Image size: 15 1/2 x 24 inches; 390 x 600 mm. Slight cockling, mounted to the image, title cartouche to lower right, framed and glazed.A delightful Wain chromolithograph depicting a pubescent cat in red bow tie, proudly holding a fork in his right hand with an impaled mouse on it, being walked by his father to "Dame Tibby's School," accompanied by nine adolescent cats of dubious class, character or attitude.Providing a dark edge to an otherwise playful image is a small sign at the entrance to Mrs. Tibby's which reads: "Cat's Meat Men Please Ring Here," suggesting that the cats enrolled at Mrs. Tibby's entered the front door as students and left through the back door as sausage: Mrs. Tibby as Sweeney Tabby, the Demon Barbara of Feline Street. As such, an unusual example of mordant humor from the tormented cat artist whose developing mental instability would cloud the sunshine of his subject matter. Bookseller Inventory # 01144

Item Description: London / New York: Ernest Nister / E.P. Dutton, 1894., 1894. With An Early Unrecorded Illustration By Louis Wain[WAIN, Louis, illustrator]. [WEATHERLY, Fred E. and Clifton Bingham, text]. Picture Pages For Little Folks of All Ages. London / New York: Ernest Nister / E.P. Dutton, [1894]. First edition. Large quarto (12 x 9 5/8 in;,303 x 242 mm). [36] pp. Chromolithograph and black and white illustrations throughout. Printed in Bavaria.Quarter blue cloth over chromolithographed pictorial glazed boards. Neat gift inscription dated 1895. A stunning copy with only the slightest hint of wear at corners.Page 10 contains a chromolithograph ("Mr. Milkman") that while unsigned (see below) is clearly by Louis Wain at an early stage of his career and is thus far unrecorded. While others illustrated cats (and imitated Wain) no one's cats were quite like Wain's cats, who invariably possess an unmistakable, slightly insane gleam in their eyes.Ernest Nister (1842-1909) "produced more than five hundred mostly undated illustrated books for children, but from the 1890s the firm's production was almost exclusively toy or movable books and Nister introduced many new mechanical techniques The illustrations in Nister's books—typically featuring affluent, well- dressed, cheerful children at play—were produced by many different artists. The artist's name, however, was often either dropped or missing, while the signature of Nister, as lithographer, was usually found somewhere on the work—thus leading to confusion about attribution. Nister frequently reused illustrations, occasionally adding picture elements that were not in the original work." (The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature).At the end of the nineteenth century, Louis Wain (1860-1939), the Edwardian cat artist who went mad, became a household name as an illustrator of cats, whom he depicted in all sorts of activities, from skating and playing cricket to driving motor cars, attending dances, and playing musical instruments. "He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves" (H.G. Wells)."From 1883, Wain began to draw cats as they had never been drawn before, cats in humorous guises, in human situations, but always beautifully handled [a]lthough he was sometimes forced to draw dogs before he became well-known!" (Houfe, The Dictionary of British Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914)."The Hogarth of cat life" (Punch).Not in Dale. Bookseller Inventory # 02501

Item Description: London Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd circa, 1910. Father Tuck's Panorama series, Tuck No. 8595. FIRST EDITION circa 1901-1910, dated from the V. & A. description of their copy. Glazed card covers, wonderful extra colour illustration to upper cover of 5 excited cats in a theatre box viewing the show. 4 panel panorama, each panel 273 x 305 mm, 10¾ x 12 inches, with 4 different coloured scenes and a total of 14 slots. 14 die cut coloured card figures of dressed cats and kittens, some in groups, were contained in pocket on lower cover, numbered 1-14. These can be slotted into the panels to make different scenes. The scenes:(a) at Bedtime, (b) helping Mother in the kitchen, (3) at the Cat's Tea Party, and (4) in the school room. 5 line drawings of cats by Wain on 2 of the reverse panels with the poem Days in Catland by Arthur Burnaby. All figures present in excellent condition. Hinges and flap to pocket expertly restored, lower cover (plain with printed 'Directions') rather dusty. A very good plus copy. In Dale (1991) Ellery Y. Wood dates this item circa 1912. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE. FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST. Bookseller Inventory # 19273